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Chapter 14
‘W-What?! That’s impossible. Who’s the Grand Duke’s wife…?!’
Unlike Liriope, who stared at the shop owner in disbelief after that absurd form of address suddenly came out of his mouth, Theo looked strangely pleased. The corners of his lips curled into a smile as he spoke to the shop owner.
“I’ll buy all ten boxes for 300 gold coins. Have them delivered to the Grand Duke’s residence before the end of today.”
“O-Oh! Thank you so much, Your Grace!”
“No, 300? I told you he was originally trying to sell each box for 200 gold coins!”
In the original story, those tea leaves definitely cost 200 gold coins per box, and that was already an extremely expensive price in this world.
That was why Rosearin had only been able to buy one box.
The original novel never mentioned whether she eventually bought the remaining nine.
“But they were so expensive that you haven’t managed to sell even a single box until now.”
“H-How did you…?”
The shop owner’s face instantly drained of color as he stammered helplessly.
Crossing her arms, Liriope put on the fiercest expression she could manage.
“You should know when to stop exaggerating. You wanted to sell them for 200 gold coins per box, and now you’re trying to charge 300? I already know the price you bought them for wasn’t even a quarter of that.”
“……”
“If you’re going to scam people, at least choose your victims carefully. Swindling people like this won’t keep your business alive for long. And trying to overcharge none other than His Grace the Grand Duke? Even if your head were chopped off right here, no one would think it was unjust.”
“M-My lady! Please spare me!”
At Liriope’s stern warning, the shop owner turned deathly pale and repeatedly bowed his head.
Standing beside her, Theo’s lips twitched ever so slightly.
Anyone watching him at that moment would have realized it.
Just how adorable he thought Liriope was.
After pulling Liriope away by the wrist as she continued arguing with the shop owner, Theo led her outside and stopped near the street where carriages passed by.
Then he said,
“It’s proper etiquette to pay a premium for goods that aren’t produced within the Empire, Grand Duke’s wife.”
“Well, even so…”
At that moment, Liriope suddenly remembered the emphasis Theo had deliberately placed on those last words as he walked ahead with a smile.
Her face instantly turned bright red.
‘Grand Duke’s wife? Me?!’
No matter how she looked at it, that jerk had probably added an extra hundred gold coins simply because the shop owner had called her the Grand Duke’s wife.
‘T-That’s ridiculous.’
Fanning her burning cheeks with her hand, Liriope hurried over to Theo, who had turned back to look at her.
They had originally planned to return straight to the Grand Duke’s residence after buying the tea leaves.
But somehow, they ended up sitting together in a restaurant for lunch.
She had been hungry, and she had also been curious about what kind of food was served in the restaurants of the bustling shopping district, so she had happily accepted Theo’s suggestion.
It wasn’t until they were seated by the second-floor window of one of the Empire’s most famous restaurants, feeling everyone’s eyes fixed on them, that Liriope realized something was wrong.
There were already plenty of people curious about the two of them because of the engagement announcement.
To anyone watching, this looked exactly like the two of them were openly enjoying a date.
Liriope became even more flustered because she had never intended to create this kind of situation.
‘On top of that, my heart keeps pounding every time I’m around this Northerner.’
At this rate, she felt like something terrible was really going to happen.
So Liriope decided to change her approach.
Just then, she remembered Rosearin, whom she had met at the dress shop.
She also remembered the handkerchief that connected Rosearin and Theo—a detail that had never appeared in the original story.
Since things had already turned out this way, maybe it would be better to introduce the two of them before the Harvest Festival, instead of waiting until the original plot began.
If they met sooner and fell in love sooner, perhaps her foolish heart would finally calm down as well.
“Um… Theo.”
‘Ah… I shouldn’t have called him.’
The deep black eyes that had been looking elsewhere immediately settled on her the moment she called his name.
As soon as her gaze met those pitch-black eyes, Liriope felt as though her heart dropped straight into the pit of her stomach before beginning to pound wildly again.
‘Seriously… that face is hazardous to my heart.’
She quickly picked up the glass of water before her, trying to cool her burning face.
The cold water slid down her throat, making her feel at least a little better.
Setting the glass back down, she continued.
“Um… Rosearin is coming to visit the Grand Duke’s residence this weekend. Would you like to come too, Theo?”
“……”
When Theo didn’t answer, Liriope lifted her eyes from her water glass to look at him.
Their gazes met immediately.
Theo was staring at her with an oddly unreadable expression.
“I don’t quite understand the meaning behind that invitation.”
His pleasant, low voice filled the silence.
“The meal has arrived.”
Just then, steaks and various dishes were brought to their table, interrupting the conversation.
Liriope, who had been starving, immediately forgot everything else the moment she saw the steak.
“Wow… wow…”
she exclaimed repeatedly.
In the end, the delicious-looking dishes made both Liriope and Theo pause their conversation and begin eating.
Unlike Liriope, who looked utterly blissful as the steak practically melted in her mouth, Theo calmly cut his own meat and ate in silence.
Then, Liriope suddenly remembered the scene from the original story where Rosearin fell for Theo while sharing a meal with him.
She quietly stopped eating and secretly watched him instead.
Considering he had been born and raised as royalty, perhaps it was only natural that every movement during his meal looked elegant and refined.
The Crown Prince probably wasn’t much different when dining.
But the way Theo handled his knife while cutting the meat…
The neat, perfectly even pieces he cut…
The quiet way he chewed without making the slightest sound…
Anyone—not just Rosearin—would probably end up falling for him after watching him eat.
For the first time in her life, Liriope realized that even the simple movement of someone’s jaw while chewing could look handsome.
On top of that, the sight of him lowering his eyes toward the plate made her want to take a picture and keep it forever.
‘He’s ridiculously handsome for absolutely no reason.’
She had to escape from that devilishly attractive appearance as soon as possible.
And the best way to do that was probably to get the heroine and the male lead together as quickly as possible.
“About what I mentioned earlier…”
Liriope brought the topic up again, determined to invite Theo to the gathering with Rosearin.
Theo’s gaze shifted from the steak he had been cutting back to Liriope.
After watching her quietly for a moment, he set down his knife and fork.
Then, with graceful movements that seemed impossible to imitate, he picked up his water glass and took a sip.
Even the movement of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed looked handsome.
How was that even possible?
How ridiculous was it that she thought even his throat looked attractive?
At this rate, she really might become so captivated by Theo that she wouldn’t even care if she ended up meeting the tragic ending waiting for her.
Trying to come to her senses, Liriope hurriedly continued.
“I really hope you’ll come too, Theo. It won’t be some grand tea party with lots of noble ladies. It’ll just be Rosearin. I’ll help the two of you have plenty of opportunities to talk. Oh, and those tea leaves we bought earlier—I plan to give them to Rosearin as a gift. That’s alright, isn’t it? Anyway, since it’s only the three of us, you don’t have to feel awkward about being between two women, and also…”
Theo quietly listened as Liriope fired off her words like a machine gun.
Finally, he interrupted her.
“So you’re saying…”
His sharp eyes moved strangely, trying to figure out the true meaning behind her invitation.
Deliberately avoiding his gaze, Liriope answered,
“She said… you gave her a handkerchief.”
“……Hm?”
“Rosearin said she wanted to thank you because you helped her… by lending her your handkerchief.”
At her explanation, Theo frowned as though wondering what she was talking about.
A moment later, realization dawned on him.
“Ah… right. That happened.”
‘Seriously… what were you two doing together before the original story even started?’
Feeling an inexplicable irritation rise inside her, Liriope took another sip of water.
After setting the glass down, she continued,
“So I thought it might be a good chance for her to return it to you.”
“……”
“Of course, you could always meet separately and take it back whenever you wanted. I don’t mean because of the handkerchief specifically. What I’m trying to say is…”
“You seem to think…”
Theo, who had been sitting upright all this time, leaned back in his chair and tilted his head slightly.
His hands, which had rested on the table throughout the meal, were now folded across his chest.
He looked distinctly dissatisfied.
That was exactly the expression on Theo’s face.
“…that I’m the sort of trash who goes around meeting other women while leaving my fiancée behind.”
His sudden remark made Liriope’s eyes widen.
“…What? N-No, of course not. I just…”
“Neither before deciding to become engaged to you nor after making that decision have I ever done anything that I would be ashamed to face you with.”
“…Pardon?”
Unable to fully grasp what he meant, Liriope blinked blankly.
Theo, who had been leaning back, leaned forward toward her.
His crossed arms came to rest on the table as he drew even closer.
Then, lowering his voice to a whisper, he said,
“In my entire life, the only woman has been you, Lipe.”
At those words, Liriope’s already large eyes slowly grew even wider until they looked ready to pop out.
Theo calmly leaned back against his chair again and added matter-of-factly,
“And, of course, you’ll be the only one for the rest of my life as well.”
